How clean does chicken water REALLY need to be?

[kdt_ntexas]

So my plan is to go straight from my galvalume metal roof into an aluminum gutter, thru a screen, and into a food safe 300 gal black cistern (black to control algae). From there, I’ll dip it out into buckets which go to 1/2” pvc with red drinker nipples. in the pvc pipe before it gets to the nipples it hits a 50 mesh strainer to keep dirt out of the nipples.

i don’t plan on making this human-quality drinking water, just mostly clear and free of dead bugs and tadpoles.

Am I going wrong here? Am I doing enough?

 

[Birdie2019]

If you wouldn’t put it in an incubator as humidity with hatching chicks, don’t put it in chicks water.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I have a 40' long barn, 12' of galvalume roofing per side. Feeds into a 6" wide gutter, from there to a 275 gal tote (painted on the outside to control algea - black wasn't available and in FL, would get way too hot). The tote feeds my 3/4" pvc with water cups, some hose spiggots, etc. Several mechanical (screen) filters along the way to keep debris out.

Works just fine, no issues for my birds. Periodically, I do add bleach, empty,, and hose out - but I suspect that's more for my comfort than theirs. Only had to do it once this year, have had fewer issues after selecting a tighter screen at the drop from the gutter, and repainting the tote.

 

[neo71665]

Mine runs off the tin roof on the shop, stainless window screen for a screen, and a 55 gallon plastic drum. The drum has a spigot on the bottom so I can run a hose into the chicken pen and fill their water.

 

[IamRainey]

If you wouldn’t put it in an incubator as humidity with hatching chicks, don’t put it in chicks water.

But what about what they put in the water?

I have a 5 gallon waterer with vertical nipples hanging in the run. That water stays clean. I have a 5 gallon gravity feed waterer with a trough sitting on cinder blocks. That water is constantly groddy with all the stuff they scratch into it. And they load that trough up so that the gunk makes its way into the reservoir as well. Even so, that's the one they prefer to drink from.

Out in the run I have a couple small quart size bottles with toughs and one that has a reservoir of about 3 quarts. They completely fill the trough of the small bottles. Nevertheless, they're always empty at night and have to be refilled. They haven't showed much interest in the larger one.

I have to tell myself that there's dirt (as in soil, small sticks and stones, and dried grasses) and then there's filth (as in chicken poo and rotting vegetable matter) and that in nature they'd drink from muddy puddles.

 

[Birdie2019]

But what about what they put in the water?

Out in the run I have a couple small quart size bottles with toughs and one that has a reservoir of about 3 quarts. They completely fill the trough of the small bottles. Nevertheless, they're always empty at night and have to be refilled. They haven't showed much interest in the larger one.

I have to tell myself that there's dirt (as in soil, small sticks and stones, and dried grasses) and then there's filth (as in chicken poo and rotting vegetable matter) and that in nature they'd drink from muddy puddles.

True. Yes I guess you could. Our dogs love lake water
Personal preference